Private investment supercharges IRA impact

CLEAN ENERGY: For every dollar the Inflation Reduction Act put toward clean energy incentives, policy analysts say the private sector has matched $5.47, totaling nearly $750 billion in the first year after the law passed. (Grist)

CLIMATE:

• Former President Trump’s allies craft a plan to once again exit the Paris Agreement if the Republican is elected, and pull out from the treaty underpinning the climate deal so it’s harder for another president to rejoin. (E&E News)
• A Biden administration official notes the significance of states and cities covering more than 96% of the U.S. population crafting climate action plans to compete for Inflation Reduction Act funding. (CNN)
• Michael Bloomberg’s charity will put $200 million toward helping 25 U.S. cities access federal funding for emissions-reducing programs. (Axios)

OIL & GAS:

• The U.S. led the world in crude oil production for a sixth straight year in 2023. (Reuters)
• Texas oil companies are charging ahead with drilling test wells for carbon capture in a race to capture federal permits and incentives available through the Biden administration’s climate package. (Houston Chronicle)

COAL:

• The U.S., Canada and Indigenous groups announce a plan to tackle British Columbia coal mine pollution contaminating Northwest rivers and lakes. (Associated Press)
• Industry groups argue in court that the U.S. EPA’s 2015 coal ash rules don’t specifically bar coal ash at an Ohio power plant from contact with groundwater, and that the agency’s enforcement efforts amount to new federal rulemaking. (Energy News Network)

PIPELINES:

• An Indigenous attorney recounts a frustrating experience testifying in a case between North Dakota and the federal government over Dakota Access pipeline costs, noting tribal sovereignty is at the heart of the case. (North Dakota Monitor)
• Residents who live along the Mountain Valley Pipeline complain that Virginia regulators are ignoring erosion and pollution complaints as construction nears completion. (WVTF)

BUILDINGS: A New York City public housing pilot project currently underway shows promise in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making apartments more comfortable through window-mounted heat pumps. (Associated Press)

GRID: Connecticut regulators approve the first round of pilot projects in a new program aimed at testing innovative hardware and software to decarbonize the electric grid. (Energy News Network)

MINING: Tribal nation citizens urge a federal human rights commission to push back on a predicted uranium mining boom, saying Indigenous communities continue to suffer from Cold War-era extraction of the fuel. (Inside Climate News)

BIOFUELS: California advocates call on the state to overhaul its low-carbon fuel standard program to support and fund electric vehicles and charging infrastructure rather than biofuels. (Canary Media)

COMMENTARY: An ecologist suggests that solar projects designed to have synergy with agriculture and ecosystems can preserve farmland and natural environments as the U.S. builds out solar arrays. (The Conversation)